AI Tinkerers' Cards V2
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Day 1: Understanding AI Terms

Start your journey by understanding key AI concepts through a simple card sorting activity.

In this first tutorial, you will learn how to use the AI Term cards to understand the key concepts of AI. But most importantly, you will learn how it feels to use your hands to explore the cards.

What to print:

Print the A4 sheets from tutorial-day1.pdf (in the Tutorial folder of your Starter Kit)

Alternatively you can use the Miro Canvas, but I strongly recommend the physical cards!

1. Card Layout (2 min)

  • Put the Neural Network card aside for now
  • Shuffle the rest of the AI Term cards
  • Lay them out randomly in front of you
Don't read the definitions from the trainer guide on AI Terms yet! That would be too easy.

2. First Sort (3 min)

  • Try arranging the cards in order from broadest to most specific concept
  • There's no pressure to get it right
  • Just use your intuition
Think about which concepts might include or build upon others

3. Read & Learn (5 min)

  • Now read open the trainer guide on AI Terms and read each card's definition carefully
  • Take mental notes on what might be wrong with your order
  • Don't change the order of your cards yet
Notice how each concept builds on the previous ones - this is key to understanding AI's evolution

4. Final Sort (5 min)

  • Close the trainer guide!
  • Rearrange the cards based on what you learned
The correct order should flow from broad to specific:
  1. Artificial Intelligence (broadest)
  2. Machine Learning
  3. Deep Learning
  4. Transformers (most specific)

Bonus Challenge!

Now that you have the order, take the Neural Networks card you set aside earlier.

Place it next to the concept you think it's most closely related to. Think about which technology relies most heavily on Neural Networks.

5. Quick Review (5 min)

  • Write a one-sentence explanation of how each term relates to the next
  • Keep these notes - they'll be useful when explaining AI to others!
Example: "AI is the broad field of making smart machines, Machine Learning is how they learn from data, Deep Learning makes it more powerful, and Transformers specialize this for language tasks"

6. Reflect as a Trainer

Why Cards Work Better Than Slides?

Using physical cards creates a different learning experience than just reading slides or taking a quiz. What happens when you move the cards around?

Learning through discovery

You did the exercise before learning the meaning of the terms. Maybe you struggled to get the order right. Why would we design the activity this way? Read more.

Solo vs Group?

You practiced the activity solo in the context of this tutorial.

But in the real world you will be using the cards in a group setting. What's the difference? Why will it be better for the learning experience? And for the learning through discovery?

What's Next? 🎉 Celebrate!

You've just completed your first tutorial! Celebrate your achievement with the community!

Tomorrow you'll explore the DREAMS framework and understand how cards can be used in workshops to inspire ideas.

Ready for Day 2?